IS IT IN MY MIND OR MY HEART OR MAYBE BOTH? 

Matters of the Heart - Mental Health and Cardiovascular Health

Health by definition goes like this; “Health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being in which disease and infirmity are absent”. For the physical component we tend to eat healthy and exercise, for social well-being we bond with our near and dear ones but how often do we acknowledge our mental health. Cardiologists are always spoken high about but why going to a psychologist or psychiatrist is always a hushed voice. The interrelationship of mind-heart is always neglected or misunderstood in our country.

Imagine, you’re on the highways and riding your car at a speed of 150kmph, suddenly a wild boar tries passing by. You’re under tremendous amount of stress at this moment and try applying brakes but this wouldn’t help but lead to the collapse of the car. *BOOM* That’s exactly how the heart is when your mind is experiencing stress. We all know that the underlying cause of heart attack is the rupture due to unstable plaque in a coronary artery and during stressful conditions, those brakes (i.e.- the flight or fight response) jumps into full gear and there will eventually fail to save you. But what if there is this exclusion of stress from the whole equation. Maybe the car/heart won’t collapse and keep you alive.

“Achieve balance through the combined conscious states of the heart and mind.”
― Steven Redhead

Did you know, people with psychiatric issues die 10-20 years earlier because of a sudden cardiac arrest than a mentally sound person would?  Apart from hypertension, smoking, diabetes, cholesterol; even emotional stress or mental illness is also considered to be a key factor of early death. How well can we address till shortcoming is the need of the hour. Before jumping to that, let me share a personal story with you all.

Couple of years back, a dear cousin of mine got succumbed to a cardiac arrest at a very young age. It was very disheartening as he was a healthy man with no previous medical history or any habits. I had just started my preparations for medical entrances back then and this sudden demise provoked my curiosity furthermore. Talking to his wife, I came to know that he was under tremendous stress due to his work and never got a good night’s sleep for months. My immediate response to it was, Why didn’t anna see a therapist and right there my question was left unanswered. This is the scenario in our country. We stress, stress but never address. Our mind wants to tell us that, subconsciously there is this voice screaming but we suppress it and try to calm it down. Ever since that day, I have taken a pledge to never let the silence ever take over anything. If you find someone stuck in this loop of misery, lend them a hand instead of brushing it off your shoulder. Maybe looking deeper through the silence of someone, could save a life.



My learnings over these years has been-

·        A sound heart resides in a sound body also that sound heart is dependent on a sound mind. Understand that the mind-heart shares a very close bond which often goes unnoticed by most of us.  

·        LISTEN CLOSELY TO HOW YOUR HEART BEATS BUT MORE CLOSELY TO WHAT YOUR MIND SAYS.

·        Golden rule/ five theories to suggest any individual – Meditation, Yoga, Laughter, Music and Massages. All these releases endorphins and oxytocin to keep one healthy mentally, also physically.

“The greatest need of our time is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotional rubbish that clutters our minds” – Thomas Merton

I would like to conclude by saying, let us grow healthy and wise by making sure both our mind and heart works in harmony, together and with each other.



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